A writer, suffering from writer’s block, is visited by the ghost of his deceased wife in the filming of a stage play called The Last Word.
Throughout the history of Screen Critix, we have only had a handful of filmed stage plays land on our desks to review, so The Last Word was a nice surprise when it arrived. When the world was in lockdown back in 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, The National Theatre shared a few live productions to watch for free in order to help those who love theatre. We were treated to such delights as One Man Two Guvnors (featuring James Corden in a Tony Award-winning performance), Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, Treasure Island, and Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. They seemed to go down a treat, so it seems strange that recordings of live performances haven’t continued to be streamed on a regular basis.
Here we have The Last Word directed by Kate Johnston, and written and produced by Jan Miller Corran – a stage play that was recorded on its closing performance after a successful run in Los Angeles.
The stage, dressed as a living room, albeit with a couch, coffee table, dining table, desk with typewriter, and stairs leading to two rooms, is the setting for the play. Brett (John Kapelos) is an author of romance novels who has managed to carve out a great career and traveled the world, attending signings and talks. He is trying to write a new book, but he is struggling due to the loss of his muse – his wife Jillian (Barbara Niven) who was killed in a tragic road accident. One day, when stuck putting his words onto paper, Brett calls out for his dead wife, only to be surprised at her return, albeit as a ghost.
Obviously shocked at first, the two then begin talking where they reminisce on their past lives together and come clean about things they have done, including extramarital affairs.
Brett is also visited by his friends Fred (Tom Katsis) and Madge (Carole White), who try to get him out of his slump. They offer words of advice, help clean his home, and talk him into getting a dog to keep him company, unaware that the ghost of Jillian is never far away.
The Last Word is a thoughtful, endearing, and often funny play, thanks to a good script by Miller Corran, and the great performances from its actors. Whilst the filming is (very) basic, with the camera static at the back of the auditorium in a wide so the whole stage is in the frame. Whilst we can always see what is happening, I believe it would have been beneficial to have at least two other cameras on both sides of the stage so we can cut fluidly between them all. Even better would have been to have a roaming camera on stage with the actors, kind of like how Birdman was shot, but that may have been one ask too far.
Overall, I really enjoyed The Last Word, and it’s easy to see why it went down so well in L.A (winning awards during its run). It’s a great story and performed very well. Maybe now, this film (which makes its film festival debut next month) can kick off a trend of theatres providing the public a chance to see their productions once their runs have come to a close.